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HERITAGE QUALITY & HERILOOM DURABILITY
Craft and Lore is an independent design and build workshop in North Idaho focusing on rugged leather goods that are simple in form and function. Traditional crafting methods are employed to create durable goods that are built to last a lifetime.
"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten"
THE BRAND
Focusing on simple, rugged and durable aesthetics, our drive is for functional and beautiful accessories that are built with care and ardor. While the true beginnings started years prior, the brand Craft and Lore was officially founded on January 1st 2014 by Nathaniel Von Lind on his kitchen table. We continue to grow into new fields and opportunities.
The Axmark
Our maker's mark is the Swedish carving ax. It is said that a man in the woods with nothing but a knife will live well, but a man with an ax will live like a king. The ax represents one of the oldest tools of our ancestral makers. With it they survived the wild unknown, they created art, and they forged history.
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We want your satisfaction and will work hard to earn it.
WHY BUY OUR PRODUCTS?
"When we build, let us think that we build forever... Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, “See! This our father did for us.” ~ John Ruskin
By purchasing these handmade goods from Craft and Lore, you understand the nature of handmade goods as containing slight variations due to the maker being human. As they say, it is the subtle imperfections of handmade that make it perfect.
By purchasing my leather goods you are also stating that you understand that leather is an organic material, and therefore can show scars or other marks of the animal's life. These marks and variations are what make leather a beautiful medium as every mark tells a story and gives your leather product a unique identifying mark.
What you are buying here are heritage goods. By heritage goods, we are referring to heirlooms that will be cherished for a lifetime. These are things that are built to be bought once. They're built with the heart and soul of the craftsman who applied his skill and knowledge to bring you this heritage good, just as it has been done throughout the history of the world.
As a craftsman, it is our desire to have our work speak for itself. That being said, we spend the time required searching for providers of the best materials available from American and European sources. We hand saddle stitch most of our small goods using waxed polycord sourced from Maine, USA.
Occasionally we come across a better leather or hardware and update the product line with it. And with the best materials there comes a higher price. Benjamin Franklin was quite right when he said "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten". In the years to come you'll not remember just how much you paid for an American made heritage good, only that the superior quality is held up and you’ll not need to buy it again repeatedly.
THE FOUNDER
Nathaniel Von Lind draws his inspiration from the alpine Rocky mountains and the great outdoors that are just outside his door in the small lake town of Coeur d’Alene. He admires the maker movement, which pushes for an authentic lifestyle that appreciates simplicity and the traditional, time-tested way of creating things. His influences are things and ideas of old. He looks to the histories of people, their folklore, and the intricacies of their craft.
His love is for mountains, rivers, woodlands, and for simple unassuming things that are built beautifully and built to last. His heart is in heirlooms and in heritage; and that old American spirit as extracted from all the corners of Europe. Nathaniel continues to draw from these inspirations, as he attempts to instill their power and traditions into each piece he creates.
